Sombre mood at Advani's Bengaluru rally venue
October 30, 2011 19:10 IST
Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani's rally in Bengaluru is, in comparison to all previous rallies organised by the party, turning out to be a toned-down event.
The last rally of the BJP held in Bengaluru had a crowd of 50,000, but Sunday's rally has just managed to gather somewhere around 10,000 people. Saffron flags are at a bare minimal and the workers do not appear to be enthused.
Around 20 bikes carrying BJP flags could be seen patrolling the venue. The cut outs of party leaders too were minimal.
All roads leading to the venue had posters of L K Advani with mug shots of Yeddyurappa and the rest of the BJP leaders.
At the entrance of the rally venue, there are two giant cut outs of Yeddyurappa, which is an indication that he has not been forgotten despite him being in jail for corruption charges.
Besides Yeddyurappa, there are huge cut outs of state home minister R Ashok, who is also facing corruption charges as well. Giving him company is Shobha Karandlage, the energy minister of the state.
Overall, the mood is sombre and even at the airport there was not much crowd to receive the veteran BJP leader.
The big question being asked is how Advani would address the corruption issue in Karnataka. Will he skirt the issue since his own men in Karnataka are in a soup?
A couple of BJP ministers and workers at the venue told rediff.com that Advani's speech will revolve around the action taken by the party against its own leaders. However, he is not expected to go hard on anyone.
Vicky Nanjappa in Bengaluru
